The One Where They Play Monopoly

"I get to be the shoe." Joey Fatone walked over to the table, the game in his hand. As he set the box down, the pewter game pieces clinked inside the box.

"Fine. I wanted to be the iron anyhow," Chris Kirkpatrick said. He reached for a mug of hot chocolate and took a sip. The rest of his bandmates were sitting around the table in his house. Justin grabbed a handful of Doritos from a bowl sitting near his end.

JC took the lid off of the box and grabbed the dog piece. Lance reached into the box and took the gameboard out. He unfolded it and placed it in the middle of the table. He then took the ship piece, and slid the top hat piece to Justin.

"Why do I have to be the hat?" Justin whined. The others gave him a look, and he grabbed another handful of Doritos.

Lance began to deal out the money -- 2 each of $500's, $100's and $50's; 6 $20's; 5 each of $10's, $5's and $1's. He was always the banker. Chris used to be the banker, but they'd see him slip some $10's out of the bank. Joey took the dice out of the box, and then set the box on the floor.

"When's the pizza getting here?" JC asked, reaching for a bottle of water. He organized his pile of colorful money, and ran a hand through his hair.

Joey looked at a clock hanging on the wall. "Um, they said in 20-30 minutes, and that was like 5 minutes ago. You do the math." He reached for his glass of Black Cherry Kool Aid. After he took a drink and set it down, he smiled.

Lance shook his head. "Dude, Kool Aid?" He thew the dice, and moved seven spaces. He noticed the price of the property, and began his careful consideration of whether or not he should purchase it.

"Kool Aid rocks. It's cheap, and you can make it anywhere," Justin replied, taking a sip of his own glass of Kool Aid. He smacked his lips afterwards. "It's more fun when you just take like two or three different colored packs and make your own flavor, but this is good, too."

"Justin, you know way too much about Kool Aid," Chris said. His knee started bouncing as he watched Lance carefully count out the money for the property. "Christ, it's not like it's expensive, Lance."

Lance looked up at him, a look of annoyance on his face. "You have to pace your money, Chris. That way you'll end up having some later."

Joey grabbed the dice and rolled. He then moved his piece five spaces. He glanced at the price before handing Lance the money. Lance gave him the title card, and then Joey handed the dice to Chris.

Chris grinned as he shook the dice in both hands. When he threw the dice, an amused laugh came from Lance.

"Ha! That's nine! You owe me!"

Grumbling, Chris counted out the money and handed it to Lance. He was just passing the dice to Justin when the buzzer for the security gate rang. JC jumped to his feet, hurrying over.

"C? You want some money for that?" Justin asked. JC stopped, and waited for Justin to bring him the money. He then walked over to the window. He glanced out it, and saw the car for Domino's parked by the gate. Opening the door, he slowly made his way to the gate. It wasn't that far. He walked towards the gate release and pressed the button. The gate opened a little ways, and the driver got out of the car.

"That'll be $23.97" the girl said. JC noticed her nametag said 'Anne.' He smiled at the girl as he counted the wad of bills Justin had given him. Girls weren't often drivers, and the pizzas hadn't taken that long to get here.

"Here," he said, handing her the wad. He saw her eyes widen, and then she handed him the two pizza boxes. "Have a good night."

She smiled. "Thank you sir." He watched her get into the car and start to drive away, a big smile still on her face. He pressed the button to close the gate and walked back into the house.

"It's your turn!" Chris looked at him, and walked over to take the boxes out of his hand. JC sat down at the table and rolled the dice. Chris set the boxes on a nearby card table, opening the lids. Steam rose off of them, and he removed the little plastic things in the middle. Grabbing a paper plate, he put two slices of the pepperoni on his plate.

One by one, the guys made their way over to get some pizza. They played another few rounds in silence, the sound of chewing filling the room. Lance had lucked out and had purchased Boardwalk, but JC owned Park Place. Every time it was Lance's turn, he would try to talk JC into selling. And every time, JC said no.

After the pizza was mostly gone, it still remained quiet. The group knew each other so well, after years of touring. They didn't need to talk constantly. But it had been a while since they had all been together.

"Did you go see Paul McCartney, C?" Justin asked him later. Justin was watching as Joey moved his game piece. Landing on a property that he owned, and had a hotel on, Justin grinned. "You owe me big time."

Grumbling, Joey handed him some money, but stopped before it was in Justin's hand. "I don't have enough. And have mortgages on all of my property. So I'm out." Lance reached over and took the title cards back, while Justin took the money.

"Yeah, I got to go. It was an amazing show."

Justin threw the dice and moved his game piece. He handed the dice to JC.

Shaking them in his hand, he glanced around the table. "I wonder what it would be like to still be touring when we're that age."

"Chris is almost there!" Justin joked, pointing his thumb in that direction. Chris reached over and cuffed the back of Justin's head.

Chris grinned. "Quiet boy! We don't pay you to be funny. You're just supposed to stand there and make the girlies swoon."

"And we pay you for what?" Joey asked with a smirk.

"I'm the wise, older one. Every group needs one." Chris confidently crossed his arms over his chest.

JC rolled the dice and moved the game piece. "But think about it. He toured for years with the Beatles. And then he toured with Wings. He did a few tours as a solo act, and then took some time off. Yet, he is back on the road now. That's amazing to me."

Lance nodded. "You owe me some cash." After receiving the money, he continued. "But it is neat. Do you ever wonder if we'll be doing that?"

A silence fell over the table. Each one looked all of the others in the eye. The silence seemed to drag on, until Justin spoke.

"I hope so. 'Cause I don't know what I'd be doing without y'all." He looked down at the table, before looking back up at his band mates. His face was filled with sincerity.

Agreeing, JC nodded. "Me, too." The other guys nodded in agreement.

"So it's settled then. When we're Paul McCartney's age, we'll tour," Joey stated.

"Sure," Lance said, reaching for his water. He rolled the dice and moved the spaces. He ended up owing Chris some money, so he counted it out and handed it to him.

Chris added the money to his sizable pile of colored paper, and grinned. "But what will we do in between now and then? That's a long time. And I don't want this game to last that long."

Justin rolled his eyes. "I think that gives us plenty of opportunities to do lots of things. Who knows? I'm fine taking it one day at a time."

Joey picked up a piece of licorice and took a bite. "That's a good way of looking at things."

"Yup. One day at a time. But at least we have one thing to look forward to." JC looked down at his pile of money, crinkling his forehead wondering how much was there. "In another twenty or so years, we'll be taking the stage."

"Together," Justin added, smiling shyly. Another round of nods.

The game lasted late into the night, with Chris finally winning when they called it quits. The group moved onto the back porch of the house, talking about random things in their lives. They liked taking breaks and getting some time on their own. But it was always scary at how uncertain the future seemed on these breaks. It was reassuring to know that in twenty years, they all still wanted to be doing the same thing -- making music.